We have an extra special #coachbetter episode! It’s our virtual launch party for the brand new non-profit organization that we’ve been building for the last year: the Association for the Advancement of Instructional Coaching in International Schools!

If you’re an instructional coach in international schools, you know that coaching can look vastly different at different schools – and you might find yourself advocating for, and building coaching programs at every school you move to. Instructional coaching is such a nuanced and complex role – both within your individual coaching practice and at the programmatic level. And moving from school to school in our international context makes it even more complex! Both instructional coaches and school leaders need to be involved in this conversation – and it needs to be specific for international schools – that’s why we founded AAICIS!

Eduro Learning is proud to be a founding partner of AAICIS.

To find out more about our organization, and to join the conversation about instructional coaching in international schools, head over to our website at aaicis.org

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SHOW NOTES

Origin story / history 

I have been working with instructional coaches in international schools for almost 10 years now, and I was having a lot of conversations with instructional coaches that were grappling with the same problem. I was hearing about missing systems and structures in school communities, admin not really understanding the role of the coach, not really being empowered to be successful in their school. Despite loving their job, having amazing coaching conversations with individual colleagues, they were missing that momentum, that systemic change that they were hoping for. They really struggled from school to school. 

Having had all these conversations, ideas are percolating, then I presented at a leadership conference and had this “aha moment” that, “oh, I’m in this room with all these leaders. The people who really need to understand this really well are school leaders. How can we help bring this conversation, elevate this conversation so that both coaches and school leaders can be thinking about, talking about working towards sustainable instructional coaching across our international school community?” 

There are tons of great resources around instructional coaching provided from particularly the United States and other countries around the world, but those really aren’t tailored directly for international schools. 

If you’re an international school educator, you’re probably nodding your head right now because you know that we really like things to be customized, bespoke, personalized to our institution. And we’re not so much into the like checkbox kind of model of adopting programs. 

The vision for this organization is really speaking to the needs of instructional coaches in international schools and being able to support school leadership in creating that sustainable coaching environment. So when all that kind of percolated to the surface, I thought I need to reach out to some people I really trust and see if this is worth actually pursuing. We did a ton of customer research speaking to school heads, speaking to other school leaders, speaking to other instructional coaches, just asking about, this is what we are thinking about doing. Is this something your school needs? Is this something your region needs? And every conversation was really a resounding yes. 

Throughout that time we were working on building this amazing team and like I mentioned, there’s just a few of us on this call, but there’s about 30 of us in the organization and we just started connecting to instructional coaches that really just like the, the group in this room right now, passionately believe in the power of instructional coaching to transform student learning, bringing them together and building a nonprofit. 

As of September, 2023, we have our 501(c)3 status in the state of Delaware. I think we officially had a URL maybe in November of 2023. We’re recording this podcast in January 2024. Our public launch is March 2024. 

Mission, vision, beliefs 

Mission: AAICIS is dedicated to amplifying the impact of instructional coaching in international schools to empower educators, cultivate thriving communities, and unlock student potential.

Vision: AAICIS leads the development of instructional coaching in international schools by providing advocacy, research, resources, and inclusive, membership-driven community connections.

We Believe:

• empowered instructional coaches can transform student learning.
• Instructional coaches play a role in helping teachers feel valued and recognized for their unique talents, creating a sense of belonging.
• instructional coaches and coaching supports school leaders in creating a culture of growth mindedness.
• Instructional coaching leads to equitable and transformational learning experiences for all students.

Why we felt the need to start 

• Provide a common foundation for instructional coaching and cultures of coaching in international schools. 
• Networking opportunities for instructional coaches to connect with and learn from each other
• Opportunities for schools and organizations to receive support in developing and sustaining onsite instructional coaching programs based in research and best practices

We know coaching can be isolating. You might be one of one in your school community or you might have a team but still not able to connect with other people, whether it’s on your site or in your larger community. We were really thinking about that and what are those reasons that this organization can truly provide that network of support for instructional coaches, and for schools around the world. 

The “around the world” piece is super important and super key to the mission and vision of AAICIS. Thinking about how we can provide a common foundation for instructional coaching and cultures of coaching in international schools. And wanting to really think about how we personalize that towards your school site, what your school’s mission vision might be, and how we can help support that in thinking about what that instructional coaching program looks like for you and your colleagues. 

We also thought about the networking opportunities for instructional coaches, we want to make sure we’re able to provide, opportunities for connection, whether that’s just being able to talk and kind of share the day-to-day goings on and processing, with someone who might be in a similar position, but also providing opportunities to learn from one another. We all know that there’s power in that and so we want to be able to provide that opportunity as well. 

We also think it’s super important that we provide time, space and that opportunity for schools and organizations to receive support in developing and sustaining onsite instructional coaching programs that we know are based in good practice, best practice and research. 

We really saw  there’s a common need out there, there’s an appetite for this to be able to come together to provide a unique foundation for instructional coaching around the world.

Our Research Project

• First ever research specifically focusing on instructional coaching in international schools
• Development of Instructional Coaching Standards & School-Based Expectations based on research
• Research report for member schools

We’ve all been in that situation where we’re either a team of one or a team of two, and we wonder, how are other schools doing it? What is the landscape of coaching? What are the trends right now that are happening in instructional coaching in international schools? And we don’t really have that answer. 

We have the trends of instructional coaching in, the largest bodies of research coming outta the US based schools where you might have a teaching and learning team in a district serving five or six schools, but we’re fortunate out here to have instructional coaches on site and what does that look like and what models are being used?  If my school is this size, what’s the sort of, immediate amount of instructional coaches we have? What are the needs that all instructional coaches  are facing maybe across international schools? or even across regions?So that really inspired us to come up with an annual research survey. 

We have a research team that has developed a tool by which we will be working with who is willing to fill it out for us. So you’ll see this survey hit your inbox probably from a couple of our partner organizations and a couple different mailing lists. Our goal is to sort of aggregate that, information, take key insights from it so that if you are either developing a program, have a developed program of instructional coaching, or are considering the development, you know, what the landscape is in both your region and worldwide and these international schools and can understand like, hey, this, these are the different ways it’s working. 

There’s another really key insight we’re gonna get from this research that I’m really excited, which is what needs a group like AAICIS can support. So we’ll use the research from this to understand, well, what models do people need And part of that is going to help us develop, in time are standards and school-based expectations based on the research. So if schools are saying we need this and this is how we get a return on investment, then AAICISs can help with that development of resources. 

Some of the projects that we’ll have with the research is we will have an annual report, we’ll have an annual white paper. We’re talking about having a dashboard with interactive results, and even the ability for schools to partner with one of our researchers on our research team to hear the key insights from the people who did the research. And we see this as an annual research report so that we can see how coaching is changing in schools like ours. So I’m really excited. I have a great research team and I I think it’s gonna be really interesting for as we move schools to say, Hey, how, how is it currently looking and what does that help me know about what we can do with our program.

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Show Notes continued…

What we hope to do in the first year 

• Support founding member schools in developing bespoke documentation and resources that will support the development of instructional coaching programs in their school
• Developing essential documentation like Principles of Practice and Essential Conditions
• Memberships community for instructional coaches

Our vision is a three-pronged thing with students at the heart of it and instructional coaches supporting each other through advocacy, research and resources. With our research project, we’re really going for what’s out there, what’s happening, what’s the blue sky thinking, what’s the gap, how do we fill it, type of thing. Once we have this research and we have all this information, the way to ground that work is to partner with schools. 

So one of the first things we’re trying to do in this first year is supporting founding member schools. It’s really partnering  with specific schools, one per region hopefully. And then using the research that we have, using the street data that we find, and the stories, everything we learn from these schools. 

We’ll create bespoke documents with our partner schools to help them develop the next step in their coaching program. So we’re not just guessing, we’re not just following hunches, we’re not assuming we’re actually basing it on lived experiences in different parts of the world. So we’re very hopeful we get to develop these relationships with these founding schools. 

We also are creating documentation on principles of practice and the essential conditions that are necessary for coaching programs to not just survive but thrive. And we’re building a membership community for instructional coaches. 

Support we will offer individuals vs schools 

We plan on having two types of memberships, individual and school. 

• Global instructional coaching community: 24/7 Job Alike
• Newsletters and occasional webinars
• Access to our standards, principles of practice and essential conditions
• Toolkit that will help them move their instructional coaching program forward. 
• Discounts from our partners. 

With our School memberships we are offering schools:

• Access to our research and our data analysis
• Prototyping standards, principles of practice and essential conditions
• Discounted individual membership for their Instructional coaches
• Newsletters and webinars
• Access to a limited number of hours of support from our team during the academic year to work 1:1 on their school’s specific needs

We are planning to support the individual coaches, the school leaders, and the whole school system. At the base level starting point will be newsletters, occasional webinars, access to some of our documents, the initial launch documents and access to our standards, and toolkits for implementing a coaching program so you don’t have to start from scratch. We’re also hoping to partner with some other organizations and that hopefully will lead to some discounted services for our members. 

On the school side, access to the research and analysis of the data, possibly even a one-to-one session with one of the data analysts as Jordan. And, a limited number of hours of support each year as part of the membership. But we’re also hoping that in the future we’ll be able to offer some packages where a school can work more closely with a member of AAICIS to develop things within context. 

The main focus we’re creating is a global instructional coaching community. A place that all instructional coaches on the globe can find a place to go and develop their practice. We’re creating a space for regular asynchronous & synchronous chats, as well as face-to-face calls. We’re creating a global community, where coaches can ask for help and connect with other coaches at all levels of experience: a 24/7 job-alike specifically for instructional coaches!

Who is on the team & the board 

On the Advisory Board are four educators from different regions in the world and I believe it was intentionally made with people from diverse backgrounds and diverse perspectives. The Advisory Board is: Nneka Johnson, I’m currently working for CIS.  Joellen Killian who is an educational consultant and author with decades of experience. Madeleine Heide, who is super experienced international school leader, and Tico Oms, who is also another experienced international school leader. 

We have team members working in every region in the world, including: Panama, Guatemala, the Dominican Republic, the US, Canada, Luxembourg, Poland, the Czech Republic, Romania, Côte d’Ivoire, the UAE, Kuwait, Hong Kong, Thailand, Taiwan, and China.

How can you get involved 

Visit our website and join our mailing list: aaicis.org 

The AAICIS community is for any international school educator. If you are in an international school and you are interested in instructional coaching, this organization is for you. If you are in an international school and you want to advocate for instructional coaching, you don’t have a program yet, or you need help with documentation, you need help to talk to your school leader, we will have resources on the website for you.

Join us at aaicis.org

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Ready to Learn More about Successful Coaching Systems and Structures?

If you’re ready to dig deeper into developing or refining a coaching program – or if you’re new to instructional coaching and you’re curious about getting started, join us for one of our courses for coaches!

To learn more about these options, we have three FREE workshops to share with you today.

For New or Aspiring Coaches

If you’re just getting started as a coach, and you want to be successful in your early years, watch our New to Coaching Workshop, which highlights the key mindset and skill set shifts you’ll need when moving from the classroom to a coaching role. The workshop will also tell you all about our online course, Getting Started as a Coach. This course is specifically designed for classroom teachers who are moving into a coaching role so you’re prepared for the transition. It’s focused on exactly the skillset & mindset shifts you need to so you can be successful in your first years as an instructional coach. 

For Experienced Coaches

If you’re already a coach & you want to think about being more intentional & strategic in your practice, watch our workshop on the Thrive Model for Coaching Success which will help you evaluate your program and your practice to see where you may have room to grow. You’ll walk away with a clear picture of exactly what you need to focus on to build a thriving coaching culture – and help you decide if our year-long mentorship and certification program, The Coach, is right for you, right now. This program is designed for current coaches who are focused on building a coaching culture through intentional and strategic coaching work at all levels – with teachers and school leaders.

For Coaches Ready to Lead

For experienced coaches ready to look at the bigger picture of the school to see what might be supporting or hindering the sustainability of the coaching program, and you want to make sure your school has all of the systems and structures in place, watch our workshop: Scaling Your Impact as an Instructional Coach. You’ll get a bird’s eye view of what’s needed to make coaching sustainable for you as an individual coach and for your school. When you’re ready to put that learning into action, join us in our online course for coaches ready to lead: Coaches as Leaders and put it all into practice – with support from Kim and our global cohort! This course is designed for experienced coaches, ready to lead.

You can find all the workshops on our coachbetter website at coachbetter.tv/workshops

Wherever you are in your coaching journey, we can support you!

For All Coaches

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